Redemption
by LightOrb
Summary: A young woman named MAra stumbles in with a resistance movement. WIth only a few weeks being with them, they are attacked, the informer, who knows.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: This my first Terminator fanfic, so I would greatly appreciate it if you would read and review._**

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Dust and concrete littered the polluted air. As the HKs encircled one of the resistance buildings. The screams and shrieks echoed from the concrete office complex. As the HK's twin laser Gatling guns blasted through the metal and drywall. With a few final blasts, it left quickly. Jetting towards the north. Leaving an array of drywall, dust, rock, concrete, and steel in it's wake. Leaving the T-600s to finish off the remaining stragglers perched inside.

From afar, Mara eyed the office complexes demise. With anger. She teared away from the horror. Rapping her scarf intricately around her head leaving her eyes as the only part of her face visible. Without reluctance, she ducked her head down as an HK roared above. In a whirlwind of shrapnel, it passed. Allowing Mara to get up and continue. She slid under a pile of debris and spring-boarded over a burnt out car, rolling when she collided into the ground. Quickly she loaded her Desert Eagle, silently, in the case a T-600 was waiting around the corner.

She crouched down letting her ears pick up every sound. The distant rumbling of the HK's engines hummed in her ears, and a slight breeze also was hissing past them. A distant sound of coils, pneumatics, and metal suddenly halted the relative silence. It was one of them. She scurried to her feet, and in an instant, she had bolted from her temporary spot. She moved easily, sliding and rolling past obstacles. Mara sprung over a metal pipe that was cutting through her line of passage. She recovered her feet and veered around a corner.

The T-600 was on her quickly. It's meticulous arm shot forward and enveloped around her windpipe. "No!" She croaked in alarm, as the Terminator slowly lifted her into the air, this time squeezing much harder on her trachea. Instinct sent her thrashing at the T-600 using whatever means possible to free herself from the machine's literal iron grip.

Suddenly a bullet slammed into it's head, and a second, third. Fourth. Then the machine was out. The T-600's hand released her neck, letting her fall to the ground with a thud. Crumpling in a mechanical heap with all the other pieces of scrap. Quickly, she scurried up and stepped a few paces back. She snatched the Desert Eagle from the ground and aimed carefully at the machines dark eyes. Letting two shots blow through it's mechanized iris'.

"Hey!" A man unexpectedly called out. Mara jolted into attack positions and aimed right where the man was standing. He was wearing a pair of raggedy jeans, a hoody, with a bullet proof vest draped over it. The hood was up and his face was hidden by a dirty ski mask. "Whoa! What's with the firearms?" he asked, shrugging, and stepping back. Mara wad silent, and unwary. "Oh, look, I just saved your life," he continued in a sarcastic tone.

"You did that?" She asked.

"No, he did it," He remarked, gesturing to the dead machine. Suddenly, the sound of T-1's pulsed from afar. "Aw, crap, we have to go, c'mon." He ordered, grabbing the Heckler and Koch sub-machine gun hanging on his back. He pulled it in front, aiming wildly as they ran through the debris. Slowly after long running, they came onto a street, which, just like every street, was torn by war. The street lights where dark and looming overhead, and once, where the markets out front were teeming with life, there were dark, human remains.

Mara continued following the man without hesitation, although she did have her suspicions. The man started to pick up the pace, with more running. Which was more like a sprint at this point. The man suddenly veered to the right into a large garage which had a burnt and moldy, dank smell to it. A car, with dents, bullet holes, and streaks of where there had been close calls sat in the garage, so innocently.

The thought that somehow this car had survived Judgment Day was unknown to her. The man stepped forward and swung open the door, gesturing for her to get into the passenger seat.

Obeying timidly, she stepped into the car, sitting slowly onto the musty seat. The man shut the door and jogged around to the other seat, sliding in quickly. His hand darted for the window roller, speedily rolling it down. Reverting his attention, he started the car, it released a slight hum, and when it fully activated, it gave a feeling of nostalgia to both of them. Letting out a sigh, the man pressed on the gas pedal, sending the silver sedan through the garage doors. With a wrenching screech, the car flew down the street, occasionally bumping through skeletons, going off pieces of concrete, and smashing through other burnt out cars. The man downshifted, to four, and rode onto a large incline. The car struggled to climb up, but with every last ounce of strength it had, it raced up the hill, bouncing on it's tires when it landed onto the asphalt. The man, slowed down to half speed, and downshifted to drive. He turned to the left and headed down an alley, parking in amongst some other cars and scraps.

"My name's Eric what's yours?" He queried, looking at her intently and ripping off the ski mask. Revealing him to have dark brown locks, and a bit of stubble pinpricking his chin and cheeks. He also had amber coloured iris' which was a nice touch to his already handsome face.

"Uhh . . . Mara," she stammered to answer, but finally, she did, peeling away her scarf. She had short red hair, her eye's were green, and was very attractive. A few scars however laced near er ears, and her neck was red and bruised by her unfortunate event with the T-600.

"Okay Mara, here's the deal, your going to stay with us for a little while," he told her reassuringly. "Us?" A door popped open from a side wall, and a small band of people raced out of it. Eric unstrapped himself from the seat and stepped out of the car door, walking among the people, he strode through the door and disappeared into the void. Mara unbuckled herself and flung out the door, heading quickly inside, slamming the door behind her.

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_**Hows it sound? Bad/Good????**_


	2. Chapter 2

"Who is she!" a boy from the group sneered.

"Her name's Mara, anyways, she'll be staying with us for a bit, okay? Because she got in a bit of trouble with Skynet, and well, she needs protection. And Teck, that'll be enough," Eric commanded, shooting a scornful look at the boy nicknamed 'Teck'. Teck cowered away into the darkness, glaring daggers at both of them. The room bobbed as the people agreed. And returned to there duty's.

Eric walked past a couple of men and slumped into his chair. He scooted forward a bit and rested his elbows on top of the desk. Slowly his eye's waned around the dark room. The caved-in parkade was laced with junk and bits of flames flickering inside of barrels, and burning in smashed in televisions. Eric sighed and stood from his desk, he spun around and started walking towards Mara. She was curled up and sitting on a torn up couch they had _rescued._ Eric strode to the ripped sofa and sat beside Mara. She had smiled. At him.

"How you doin'?" Eric asked.

"I'm okay," She answered, smiling weakly.

"So how'd you become the _leader_ of all these people?" Mara inquired.

"Well, I suppose, I just started to take in kids and teach them how to take a stand against the machines, then I geuss it just kept going. The first child I ever took in was a kid named Mitchel, he was a cool, but his confidence got the best of him." he answered, smirking in rememberance.

"Where is, Mitchel ?"

"He's dead," at his words, Mara shut her mouth. Her brow creasing in pity.

"I-I- uhhh . . . I"m real sorry." She apologized, hanging her head.

Eric shook his head. "Don't be, okay, just, please . . . don't."

"I, okay . . ." "C'mon, let's get some food." Eric stood from the sofa and extended his hand. Mara readily took it. Once she too was on her feet, Eric released it quickly. They both strode to an old lead lined, dirty looking fridge. Carefully Eric pulled it open, as if it were a very fragile document. The food inside the refridgerator consisted of peanut butter, ham, milk, water, and a small, burnt loaf of bread.

"Wow," Mara commended.

"Yeah, it's not much, but hey, we haven't gone food scavenging in a long while," Eric sighed.

Mara raised an eyebrow and picked up the dairy product. She reeled when she took a whiff of the old milk, "Whoa-ho-ho! That's strong! This milk has gone bad, hasn't it?"

Eric laughed. "Yes, we know, but we found that the machines don't like milk very much," Eric answered, snatching the milk from the fridge. "Here." He said, taking the milk from her stiff hands and smiling. Quickly, he placed the milk back in the fridge, trying to spare Mara's sense of smell. "How about some target practice?"

Two Weeks Later

After a few silent weeks, the group had learned to relax a bit, instead of the constant blur of people doing their duty's in a flurry. It was calm and quiet.

Mara walked to the Taurus PT 45 sitting on Eric's rough desk. She picked it up and tossed it around in her palms playfully.

"What are you doing?" The twenty-three year old man, whom Mara was very attracted too, asked.

"Just, nothing," She answered, her attention still fixated on the gun. Although she knew better than to deny her feelings for him.

"Okay, that's fine," Eric said, spinning on the heel of his shoes and walking away.

"I . . . wait up!" she called out, racing past a pile of junk, and hopping over a collapsed pillar. Once she was at the same speed as Eric, she skidded to a halt. "Hey, umm . . . can I talk to you for a bit?" Mara asked, shuffling her hands into her pants pockets.

"What about?"

"I--" A thunderous boom, broke her sentence and the silence. Bit's of shrapnel and ash exploded into the parkade, sending a few people flying through the air. Lasers pulsed through the smoke-filled air, as T-600s moved into the clearing, taking potshots at everything that moved. Mara, still holding the Taurus, swung it at the nearest Terminator and emptied the magazine. It's loose body fell to the ground in a loud crash.

Suddenly, a hand slipped into hers, without looking she realized it was Eric, leading her away from the battle. When she finally shot a glance, sure enough, it was Eric, holding his Heckler and Koch sub-machine gun, shooting down the Terminators with it. "Mara are you okay!?" He shrieked, taking a couple of shot's into a T-600's metal head. Decapitating the machine at the neck.

"Yeah!"

"Okay! Go to the back, there sould be an emergency exit, get to it and run to the car okay!" Even through the smoke, the bullets, and the chaos. Mara leaned in and kissed Eric on the mouth.

"Wha--?"

"Just in case," she said, running towards the back.

Once she reached the door, she threw it open and ran outside into the dark, cool air. She darted her head around trying to get a glimpse of the silver sedan. There! She spotted the car hiding behind some bushes, debris, and other wrecked cars. Quickly she sprinted towards the sedan and spring-boarded over another car. Once she reached the silver sedan, she pulled open the car door and hopped in. Her hand flew to the ignition, and turned the key. With a starting hum, the car raced from the lot. Mara put it in three and drifted to face the parkade. As if on cue, Eric burst from the emergency exit and sped towards Mara. Quickly, she edged over into the passenger seat. Eric jumped into the car and immediately swung the car back around. He up-shifted to four and drove down the hill. When he got to a right turn corner. He shot the emergency brake up and drifted around the sidewalk. Releasing it and speeding up. He downshifted to three again and burst down the straight stretch. After a while he slowed down a bit and kept a normal speed.

"Eric, what about the others?" Mara asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"They have their own way out." Suddenly, he shot his foot down on the brakes and screeched to a halt. Turning off the car he unexpectedly clutched Mara's face lightly and pulled her lips into his. Eric pulled his lips away and spoke up.

"You have no idea how much I have yearned to do that," he admitted, but was finished by Mara's warm lips. Mara gave Eric a final, lingering kiss, and then stopped abruptly.

"I think I do," she admitted, her gaze locked into Eric's. A whizz suddenly pierced the silence. Eric realized what was about to happen once they heard the sound.

"Get down!!" he shrieked, pulling Mara's head down. The windshield shattered with extreme force. With glass raining on them Eric pulled himself up and started the car again.

"Eric what happened!" Mara screamed.

"Sharpshooters!" Eric told her, shifting to drive and speeding down the road. He up-shifted to three and drifted around a third corner. Popping the lights on a T-600 suddenly came into view. They both yelped in terror as they collided head on with the machine. It's metal torso reached through the broken windshield, it's eye's glaring at both of them.

"GET OUT!" Screamed Eric, aiming the Heckler and Koch into the machine's chest and let flow the bullets. With sparks and metal, the T-600 fell and was crushed under their wheels. With a sharp turn to the left, they spun into a donut. Going out of control, they both slammed into a wall.

The airbags didn't go off.

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**_A/N: Was that better?_**


End file.
